Cincinnati Reds at San Diego Padres

Since 2013, the Reds are 5-13 on the road in San Diego, their worst away record against an NL opponent over that span. The Reds still have a narrow edge, 158-156, in games played between these teams in San Diego all-time.

The Reds were swept in a three-game series by the Dodgers in Los Angeles, bringing them to seven consecutive road losses to start the season. This is the second-longest road losing streak to start a season in franchise history behind the 1931 team which lost its first nine road games.

The Padres dropped a two-game set to the Rockies in San Diego, having been outscored 13-4 over the two games. San Diego is still above .500 at 11-8 despite having a -12 run differential this season, the lowest run differential by a team with a winning record.

Jose Peraza is hitless in his last 20 plate appearances and he has not drawn a walk in 144 consecutive plate appearances dating back to September 6, 2018. That is the longest active streak in MLB by a position player. Teammate Matt Kemp has the next-longest streak at 95 straight plate appearances.

Wil Myers had a solo home run in both games against the Rockies, bringing his home run total for the season to five and his RBI total for the season to nine. Myers and Christian Walker (Ari, five HR and nine RBI) are the only hitters in MLB with five-plus home runs and fewer than 10 RBI.

Chris Paddack has limited opposing hitters to a .130 batting average in his first three career starts. That is the lowest opponent batting average over the first three career starts for any Padre in franchise history.

Before Friday night's game at Petco Park in San Diego, rival managers David Bell of the Cincinnati Reds and Andy Green of the Padres spoke optimistically about their struggling offenses.

"I think we're ready to snap out of it," said Bell, whose team had lost four games in a row before defeating the Padres 4-1 in Thursday night's series opener.

"We know they will come around," Green said of the Padres' offense. "We know there are a lot of guys in the lineup right now who aren't sitting at the numbers that we know they are eventually going to be at. We trust people. We trust players with track records. Some days, taking a breather (is) the best thing to do. There is no magic formula.

"Ultimately, we're one day away from really clicking as an offense and to have things take off. Players want to get results."

Well, it didn't happen Friday night as the two teams combined for five runs on eight hits against 20 strikeouts over 11 innings, with the Reds handing the Padres a fifth straight loss, 3-2.

Cincinnati will go for its third straight win in the four-game series Saturday night with right-hander Luis Castillo (1-1, 1.46 ERA) starting for the Reds against Padres left-hander Eric Lauer (2-2, 4.91 ERA). It will be the fifth start of the season for both pitchers.

The task might be daunting for the Padres, given the present state of their offense. They have 30 hits over their five straight losses.

Their team batting average is .221 -- better than the Reds' .192, good for last place in the National League.

Castillo has given up four runs on nine hits and 13 walks with 32 strikeouts over 24 2/3 innings this season to continue a run that started last Sept. 1. Over his past nine appearances, the 26-year-old is 4-2 and leads all major-league starting pitchers with a 1.25 ERA - giving up eight runs on 29 hits in 57 2/3 innings with 21 walks and 66 strikeouts. During the run, opposing hitters have batted .149.

And opposing hitters are batting just .114 against Castillo this season. He opened the season by becoming only the third starting pitcher since 1983 to strike out eight or more hitters while allowing two or fewer hits in three consecutive starts.

"Luis is as good as anyone in the game right now," Bell said.

Castillo will be making his fourth career start against the Padres. He is 0-2 with a 5.17 ERA against the Padres, allowing 12 runs (nine earned) on 17 hits and four walks with 14 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings.

The Padres have hit .270 against Castillo with both wins coming last season. Padres Hunter Renfroe and Francisco Mejia each have two homers off Mejia while Wil Myers has one.

Lauer has allowed 12 runs on 21 hits and four walks over 16 innings in his last three starts after pitching six innings of four-hit, shutout ball on Opening Day. His ERA has climbed in each of his last three starts.

"A couple of times, I thought he was one pitch away from a really good outing," said Green of Lauer, who has given up four homers in his past three games.

Lauer made two starts against the Reds as a rookie in 2018 and was 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA, allowing one run on seven hits and five walks with 12 strikeouts over nine innings. The Reds hit .219 against Lauer.